Macedonia steps up security on border with Greece, blocks thousands of migrants from crossing

Police vehicles drive to the border between Greece and Macedonia in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. Macedonian police stepped up the security at the border with Greece apparently trying to stem recent surge of migrants who are coming from Greece. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
(The Associated Press)

A police helicopter flies near the border between Greece and Macedonia, near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. Macedonian police stepped up the security at the border with Greece apparently trying to stem recent surge of migrants who are coming from Greece. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
(The Associated Press)

Police vehicles drive to the border between Greece and Macedonia, near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. Macedonian police stepped up the security at the border with Greece apparently trying to stem recent surge of migrants who are coming from Greece. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
(The Associated Press)

GEVGELIJA, Macedonia – Macedonia has stepped up security on its border with Greece, blocking thousands of migrants from entering.

The government said Thursday it is proclaiming a state of emergency on its borders and deploying additional troops as it tries to stem a recent migrant surge.

Thousands of migrants were stranded Thursday on no-man's land between Macedonia and Greece near the Macedonian town of Gevgelija, from where they planned to catch trains that would take them to the Serbian border on their way to EU-member Hungary.

Macedonia has become is a major transit route for the migrants heading from Greece to more prosperous EU countries. Almost 39,000 migrants, most of them Syrians, have been registered passing through the impoverished Balkan country over the past month, double than the month before.